Thousands of trees felled in Shevgaon taluka; forest department silent 10 days on action

The Ahilyanagar forest division has put up large, eye-catching posters in the city. They read: "Plant a tree... find out how useful that tree is to you after 50 years." The posters list the worth of a single tree: oxygen worth Rs 15 lakh, water recycling worth Rs 40 lakh and air pollution control worth Rs 35 lakh. A tree also provides a home for birds, they say.

Yet in the very department whose office is teaching the public about the environment, some people are allegedly lining their pockets. Crores of rupees are spent at the government level in the name of protecting the environment and keeping the earth green, and still this has happened.

The matter concerns Shevgaon taluka in Ahilyanagar district. It is alleged that, with the collusion of some corrupt forest department officers and bribe-taking staff, thousands of trees were cut down here indiscriminately, illegally and ruthlessly. The matter has come to light with evidence and has caused widespread anger among people.

As soon as the matter surfaced, there was commotion in the corridors of the forest department. The administration ordered an inquiry and action. But 10 full days have passed since this serious incident, and it is still not clear what legal action has actually been taken against the officers held responsible. The department is maintaining complete secrecy. Even when asked by the media and environmentalists, the officers remain silent.

Environmentalists have alleged that weekly payoffs were taken from the smugglers who felled the trees and from those taking bribes, which is why an attempt is being made to cover up the matter. In Shevgaon taluka, people are angrily asking whom an ordinary citizen should approach with a complaint when the government's own protectors become predators. There is also quiet talk that some senior officers are shielding these corrupt colleagues.

Environmentalists, forest lovers and social workers in the district are deeply angered by the plunder and the felling of voiceless trees. They say that today lakhs of people are dying for want of oxygen. In such a situation, they say, a token suspension will not be enough for these officers, who have consumed thousands of dense trees that give life-sustaining air throughout their lives.

The demand is growing that the officers held responsible, who they say indirectly toyed with human health and choked the environment through this felling, be booked immediately for "culpable homicide" and dismissed from service.

On one side there is a spectacle of advertising, and on the other, they allege, trees worth lakhs and crores are cut down with the officers' own blessings, in league with the timber mafia. This double-faced conduct has been exposed. The whole district is now watching what stern stand the Chief Conservator of Forests, Ahilyanagar, and the district administration take, and whether the hammer will truly fall on the guilty officers.